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I took classic chicken and dumpling soup and gave it a cozy, veggie-forward twist. This version is packed with vegetables and simmered in a rich, creamy broth. Everything comes together in just one pot — the dumplings fluff up right in the soup, making every bite so soft, hearty, and delicious. It’s the kind of comforting recipe you’ll have on repeat all fall and winter long.
On Monday, I shared this year’s full Thanksgiving menu — my favorite one yet! It’s the make-ahead menu, and now it’s time to start sharing all of the new recipes that are part of it.
When I plan our Thanksgiving menu each year, it’s always important to me to include the classics — the turkey, of course — but I also love creating a vegetarian option that feels just as special. I never want anyone to feel left out of such a meaningful holiday meal.
In the past, I’ve shared a few vegetarian pastas (lots of lasagna!), but this year I wanted something a little different — a dish with the cozy, buttery, herby flavors of roasted turkey, just in a new form. That’s when I thought: dumplings! A creamy vegetable-filled dumpling soup that’s rich, satisfying, and so delicious.
It’s cozy, comforting, and perfect for anyone who doesn’t eat turkey — or anyone who just loves a warm, hearty bowl of soup.
These are the details
Ingredients
- salted butter
- onions
- garlic
- flour
- fresh thyme – dried works too
- fresh sage – again, dried works well too
- cayenne pepper
- carrots
- celery
- mushrooms
- broth
- salt and black pepper
- milk – use whole milk to ensure a creamy soup
For the Dumplings
- flour
- baking powder
- sage
- milk
- black pepper
Kitchen Tools Needed
To make this recipe, you need a large Dutch oven. A mixing bowl to make the dumplings, and if you want some brown butter on top, then a small skillet to brown a bit of butter. That’s pretty much it. Nothing fancy or complicated!
Steps
Step 1: Make the soup base
Melt the butter in a large pot, then add the onions and garlic. Cook until softened and fragrant. Mix in the flour, sage, thyme, and a pinch of cayenne pepper. If you only have dried herbs, that’s totally fine too!
Add the carrots, celery, and mushrooms, and cook until they begin to soften. The flour will help thicken the soup and give it that creamy texture.
Step 2: Cover and simmer
Pour in the broth, then cover and let the soup simmer for a few minutes to allow the vegetables to become tender and the flavors to deepen.
Step 3: Make the dumplings
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, chopped fresh sage, and black pepper. Pour in the milk and gently mix until a soft dough forms.
Step 4: Cook the dumplings
Turn the heat up to bring the soup to a gentle boil. Stir in the milk, then drop spoonfuls of dumpling dough directly into the boiling soup — about 6 to 8 at a time. Don’t overcrowd the pot.
Partly cover and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, until the dumplings are fluffy and cooked through. Cooking them right in the soup keeps things simple — no extra pots, no fuss, just cozy comfort.
Step 5: Serving
If you’d like, brown a little extra butter just before serving and spoon it over each bowl — the nutty flavor is perfection. Top with fresh thyme, flaky sea salt, and black pepper. Add parsley for extra herbs, or finish with a sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese.
This soup is creamy, cozy, and so flavorful — perfect for Thanksgiving or any chilly night!
Making Ahead of Time
To make this ahead, follow the recipe as written. You can cook the dumplings and store them separately, then add them back in when reheating the soup.
Alternatively, make the dumplings just before serving. Either way works, but I prefer to make the full recipe ahead of time — that way, all you have to do is reheat and serve. Less to think about while hosting!
Looking for other soup recipes? Here are my favorites:
Creamy Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup
Brie and Cheddar Apple Beer Soup
Creamy Gnocchi Soup with Rosemary Bacon
Slow Cooker Chipotle Chicken Tortilla Soup
Creamy French Onion and Mushroom Soup
Healthier Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini Vegetable Soup
Pumpkin Beer Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Lastly, if you make this One Pot Creamy Vegetable Dumpling Soup, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love hearing from you guys and always do my best to respond to every comment. And, of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
One Pot Creamy Vegetable Dumpling Soup
Ingredients
- 1 stick salted butter, sliced
- 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 ½ cups chopped carrots
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup chopped mushrooms
- 4 cups broth
- salt and black pepper
- 2 cups whole milk
The Dumplings
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
- 3/4 cup milk
- black pepper
Instructions
- 1. In a Dutch oven set over medium heat, melt the butter with the onions and garlic. Cook 2-3 minutes, add the flour. Mix in the thyme, sage, cayenne, carrots, celery, and mushrooms. Toss to coat. Pour over the broth and season with salt and black pepper. 2. Cover and cook over medium heat, 10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.3. To make the dumplings. Stir together the flour, baking powder, sage, and season with pepper. Add the milk. Mix until just combined.4. Mix in the milk. Bring the soup to a gentle boil. Drop a heaping tablespoon of the dough into the soup, adding about 6 dumplings at a time. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, until the dumplings are cooked through and puffy. 5. If desired, add 2 tablespoons salted butter to a small skillet set over medium-high heat and allow the butter to brown. Divide the soup and dumplings between bowls. Serve topped with brown butter, thyme, flaky salt, and pepper. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
My daughter and her partner are vegetarians so I made this as a possible thanksgiving main for them. The soup was quite thin, I thought it would be thicker. The dumplings were also very dense, maybe that is how they are supposed to be? The flavors were nice though.
Hi Mary,
Thanks for trying this recipe and your feedback. The flour in step 1 should really help to make this soup a bit thicker, but it shouldn’t be too thick. The consistency is thicker than a broth soup but not as thick as a chili. I hope that helps. For the dumplings, it sounds like they were over-mixed. You really want the dough to be just combined and then leave it be. Let me know if you have any other questions!
I tried browning 2 tablespoons of butter but it didn’t produce enough liquid to pour over anything. Just turned into browned bits on the pan.
Sorry to hear this, Jan! I hope you enjoyed the soup recipe. Have a great weekend!
Sounds like you browned it for a bit too long, next time I would just brown it until you start to smell that nutty scent
This was not enjoyed Tieghan. 🙁
Sorry to hear this, Carol. If there is anything that I can help with, please let me know!
I am not sure why people feel that leaving anything less than 5 stars is a fake review. I tried this recipe and I didn’t like it at all. I’ve made other HBH recipes that I’ve enjoyed and this one I did not – and that’s ok! But we don’t need to insult others simply for not leaving glowing reviews. 🙁
Hi Anna,
I’m sorry to hear this recipe was not enjoyed. Thanks for making it. If there is anything that I can help with, please let me know!!
Why is the NYC signing cancelled? I am so disappointed!! 🙁
I’m so sorry, Sasha!! We are hoping to add another in person event, so stay tuned! Happy Holidays!
I’ve made your chicken and dumplings from one of the cookbooks (I don’t have it handy to say which cookbook) and it was fabulous so I know this is too. I have all carnivores coming for Thanksgiving so I don’t need a vegetarian dish, but I’m thinking this will be a great recipe for adding the leftover turkey to after Thanksgiving. Thank you for this recipe! I wouldn’t have thought of turkey and dumplings! And, the fake reviewers are so amusing. They think if they all say the same thing it will make it more believable. Why they feel the need to leave fake reviews truly puzzles me but they are so obvious. Thank you, Tieghan for your “out of the box” and very flavorful recipes that have changed many of our cooking lives. We appreciate you!
Hey Lisa,
Wonderful! I appreciate you making this recipe and your comment, love to hear it turned out well! Happy Friday!
Thanks so much for posting this before Thanksgiving! It gave me time to test it out to confirm that I will not be serving this to anybody on Thanksgiving. It was not enjoyed at all.
Sorry to hear this, Jenna. If there is anything that I can help with, please let me know!
I usually try to defend HBH but this one really missed the mark
Hi Jan,
Sorry to hear you did not enjoy this recipe. If there is anything that I can help with, please let me know!
I made this last night and made it dairy and gluten free. Fed a family of 9 and everyone, even the my spectrum human loved it. I used cashew milk and gf flour. I added left over chicken and roasted hatch chiles for a more well rounded flavor. Highly recommend!
Hey there,
Amazing! Thanks a bunch for making this recipe and your comment, so glad to hear it was enjoyed!
This sounds like a really delicious satisfying soup. I’ve never made dumplings but love the idea. I’ll have to give them a try.
Thanks so much, Judee! I hope you love this recipe!
I’m glad I tested this before Thanksgiving because this will not make the cut!
Sorry to hear this, Sylvia. Thanks for trying the recipe and your comment!
This was very greasy and the flavor profile wasn’t there for me. I’m glad I tested before Thanksgiving!
Hi Jane,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear it was not enjoyed!
This sounds so good! Making it soon. Xx
Thanks so much, Kelly-Jane! I hope you love this recipe!
This seems incredibly butter laden, does it really need an entire stick of butter plus an additional 2 tbsp to drizzle? I have never heard of someone drizzling butter over a finished soup. Can I leave out some of the butter?
Hi Allison,
Feel free to adjust the butter to your liking:)
I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try!
This looks so delicious as do all your recipes. Thank you so much for sharing such yummy food with all of us! Your website is very beautiful. You are so talented!!
Thanks so much, Lynelle:) I hope you love this recipe, let me know if you give it a try!
This looks so good!! Can I use gluten free flour for the dumplings? Always look forward to your recipes!! 🥰 thank you!
Thanks so much, Edinne! Yes, gluten free flour will be okay for you to use. I hope you love this recipe!